Losses And Gains
by NelliethePieAngel
Summary: Sweeney can't understand why Mrs. Lovett clings to him so much. Will a memory that rises in his sleep change things? Read on and enjoy. This is for Violaunte's Sweeney Todd Stroy Contest by the way.
1. A Life Lost

**A Life Lost...**

**Just warning you all, this is not going to be the happiest story until the end. Scientists say that sleep forms memories, whether it's true or not (and I believe it to be true), Sweeney is definately affected in this story. Sweeney thinks that Mrs. Lovett's life is perfect, she finally has a successful pie shop and a son. So why won't she cease clinging to him? Maybe if he tries to unlock his memories as Benjamin Barker, he might be able to uncover the reason. All characters belong to Stephen Sondheim and Tim Burton. I do own Johnny Depp's Sweeney though, I have him stashed away in my bedroom closet. *Recieves strange looks.* What, a teenage fangirl can have an imagination can't she?! Jeez Louise, well, I've done enough blabbing. **

Sweeney stood in his barber shop looking out the window in displeasure. Why did that woman have to cling to him so incessantly, she was like a puppy addicted to a bone, and he didn't like it one bit. He could not believe that she had actually convinced him to go on a walk with her. He was miserable throughout the whole walk, but was only confused by the end of the walk by Nellie Lovett's sudden mood change. She had been so overly excited and happy to be taking a walk with him, against his wishes of course. She had begged that they stop so she could compliment a total stranger on how cute her baby was, Sweeney was just getting upset because even though this baby did not look a thing like her, the last baby he had seen was his own. The rest of the walk home though, Mrs. Lovett had seemed different. All she did was thank Sweeney and walk slowly to her room. Now it wasn't like the barber, but Sweeney could've sworn he felt a stranage feeling when he thought he heard her crying. He just couldn't understand how she could've started out so happy, and ended up so depressed, it just wasn't like her.

He eased himself into his chair and slowly fell asleep. He couldn't get one question out of his head though, "Why was Mrs. Lovett acting so strangely?" That was when the memories flowed in...

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXO---SWEENEY DEPP (HA) ROCKS!---XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Miss Nellie Summers had been so happy on her wedding day, she was getting married to a sweet man. Soon she would be Mrs. Nellie Lovett. What she didn't know whas that Albert Lovett was like some other men. He didn't show off his true self until after the wedding. They had a beautiful time on their honeymoon, but as soon as the celebration was over, she was off to work. Albert would just go right upstairs and drink and binge out on food. He would get fatter and fatter, and more and more unattractive. Everytime Nellie did something that Albert didn't like, he would give her a big bruise. Every so often he would show some affection, but those moments were short lived. He would throw her against the walls or send her tumbling down the stairs, just because she tried to be a good wife. And he wanted to be alone with his food and drinks. She had at one point had the best pies in London, but after her marrage her meat pies were tainted with emotional and physical pain and sorrow. There had only been one man who had ever been there for her, a friend since childhood, Benjamin. He would try to get her to get a divorce, worried for her safety, but she said that that would only get him more upset. Benjamin rememebered that she used to be a lot prettier, but since all of the abuse, she looked all bent out of shape. Her face was constantly bruised, and her arms were obviously covered with markings. Why else would she wear long sleeves during the summer months? A few months after this began, Mrs. Lovett started to feel naucious. She would throw up on numerous occasions, and she instantly believed that she knew what it was. She had gone to the doctor, and sure enough, she was pregnant! She ran home to tell Albert, and while she tried to supress her observations, she swore that he did not look as excited as she.

That was when it started again, Albert would try to infuriate Nellie. It actually got to a point where Nellie couldn't sleep in the same bed as Albert, she was just too afraid of him. The abuse was at a point where every touch that Albert gave her came off as abuse to poor Mrs. Lovett. Nellie always hid her tears and she cried in what she thought was privacy. What she didn't know was that someone was watching her, a man who over the years had become a best friend to her. Even though on her behalf, it more than just a friendship. For even though she was married, it was an arranged marriage, and she loved this man, not Albert. Bejamin would watch her cry and feel nothing but sadness and guilt. He just felt so horrid that he knew that this was going on, but he didn't know what to do about it. All he did was watch her cry as he wished he could help her.

Then, the worst imaginable thing happened. Nellie and Albert were in the middle of another heated argument. Albert was complaining how he was feeling neglected because his wife was so busy making pies. She defended herself by saying that the money she recieved from the pie shop was the only way they were getting money, but it wasn't enough for him. Beanjamin heard the yelling. "Lucy, shouldn't we do something? I mean, Nellie could get seriously injured, more injured that is."

His wife only rolled her eyes. 'Oh Benny Wenny, listen to you. Calling her Nellie as if **she's** one of your friends. No, she'll be fine, I promise." Lucy smirked behind the book she was reading after assuring Benjamin of Mrs. Lovett's safety. He pushed the negative thought of one of his closest friends getting hurt out of his head and went back to what he was doing.

Downstairs though, the argument had only gotten worse, and now Albert had poor Nellie backing away from him and his angry tone. He hit her, causing her to fall to the floor. She pushed herself to her feet again with much difficulty. Her whole body was aching, but he kept coming towards her... And **that** was when it happened. Mrs. Lovett didn't realize she was so close to the staircase leading into the bakehouse. Before she knew it, she was tumbling down the staircase foot first. She landed with a thud and could only lay there in pain. Albert had a fake frightened look on his face. At that moment, she rose to a sitting position and looked down, there was blood. She checked all over herself, excpet for some scratch marks and bruises she was unmarked. So where could the blood have come from?


	2. A New Love Gained

**Is A New Love Gained**

That's when she started to think about it. She had heard of it happening to other's, but could it have happened to her? Just the possibe thought of it made her start to bawl. Benajmin heard her cries and ran downstairs to the door. "Oh my god Nellie, are you... what happened?" She just kept crying, so Benjamin and Albert both walked downstairs and helped her up the stairs.

"She's gone, she's gone. Ben, she has to be gone!" Benjamin tried to have her explain what she meant, but she simply just restated the phrase repeatedly.

Albert diverted his attention to his sobbing wife. "Mr. Barker, you stay here with your wife. I'll take Nellie to the doctor to see if she's badly injured." Benjamin simply nodded and kissed Nellie on the forehead (in a friendly way of course), before ascending the stairs back to his apartment.

The couple returned a few hours later. Albert had the biggest grin on his face, but with a small wicked smirk added to it. "I'll go tell Benjamin you're alright okay Nell, and I'll tell him the bad news as well." He put on a fake frown, which poor Mrs. Lovett unfortunately fell for, and walked up the staircase. Benjamin turned right around at the sight of the plump husband of the baker. "Nellie's perfectly safe, she's not **badly** injured." Benjamin gave off a large grin and thanked Albert. Albert knew perfectly well that he had left out the other big news, but he could be wicked in that way.

A few hours later Benjamin was about to walk to Nellie's shop when he heard soft wails coming from her and Albert's bedroom. He opened the door slightly and saw Mrs. Lovett crying with her face buried in her pillow. He knocked on the door quietly and she looked up immediately. "Oh, Benjamin. I... I didn' know it was you."

Benjamin walked over and put his arm around his friend while whiping her tears away. "Nellie, I'd think you'd be happy at the fact you aren't seriously injured."

Mrs. Lovett nodded. "Yes, I am happy about that. I'm not happy because... **she's, ** gone. Emily's gone Mista Barker, and I never even met 'er! She was my dream girl, and I lost her." Benjamin just stood there befuddled by er words. "Mister Barker, I was pregnant, remember? And when Albert was yelling at me this mornin', I was backing away to escape him and... I fell down those stupid bakehouse steps!"

Benjamin frowned and pulled her into a hug. "Nell, I'm so sorry." All Mrs. Lovett could do was cry on his shoulder. "Albert never even told me, all he mentioned was that you weren't hurt. Wait, is Emily what you were planning to call her?"

Nellie got angry all of a sudden. "I really don't think he even wanted a child. The day I told him the news, he looked so, uncaring. You were the only one besides me who seemed happy by it." Benjamin shook his head, he explained how maybe he was simply frightened by the news. "Don't try Ben, I know he hates children. You're the only person who seems to care about me and my happiness ." Nellie nuzzled closer and Benjamin just kept holding her, while brushing his hand through her hair consolingly. "Ben, you are the sweetest man I've ever known." Benjamin smiled sweetly and gave her another small hug. "I just wish that... that I had gotten to see her at least."

Benjamin turned her to face him and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. "I'm sure she would've been georgeous Nellie." She started crying again, but this time, it wasn't just because she had lost Emily. It was because she truely knew now, that she was in love with a man that would never be able to truely love her back...

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO---I LOVE SWEENEY TODD---XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Sweeney awoke, a small beam of sunlight came through his large window. Had he actually slept through the night in what seemed like years? He didn't know, but he did know one thing for sure.

He walked downstairs and looked into the pie shop window. Sure enough, there was Nellie Lovett, making meat pies for the days customers. He walked in slowly, he didn't seem to gain his landlady's attention so he walked up next to her. She was humming silently to herself and smiling gently. He leaned in closer to her and whispered. "I'm still sorry, and I still stand by what I said years ago." Mrs. Lovett just looked at him confused. "You know, about... Emily."

Mrs. Lovett sat down at one of the tables and frowned. "So you still remember that day?" Sweeney nodded and walked over to where Nellie was sitting sadly. In her current state, all of the annoyances of Nellie Lovett seemed to disappear to him. Suddenly, all he wanted to do was comfort the baker. After all, he knew what it was like to lose a child. He walked over to the booth, sat next to her, and put his arm around her. Nellie Lovett was befuddled by his action, but her feelings only caused her to give in.

"I fell asleep wondering why you acted the way you did yesturday. And it all came back to me." That was when he **really** looked at the baker, he had never noticed the way her eyes glistened everytime he acted kindly towards her, which was rare for Sweeney. Or the way she smiled at him all of the time. He hadn't even recognized the way she whispered to him at times to be seductive in any way, until this moment. "Mrs. Lovett, may I ask you something?" She smlied and nodded. "I was wondering about this, especially right now. I never thought to notice this, but... Do you love me Mrs. Lovett?"

Nellie pushed herself away quickly. She was hoping there would come a day when he asked her that, but she wasn't ready for it. She stuttered, trying to find something to say. "Well I, maybe I. You're just..." That was it, she couldn't just hold it back any longer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Mister T, I know you could never because of Lucy. I can't bear it anymore though, I love you. Bloody 'ell, I've loved you since the first day I met you!" She just kept crying, and she knew her defences were weakening. Then Sweeney did something she never expected. He was brushing his hand through her hair and consoling her like he did when he was Benjamin.

Sweeney pushed her off of him and looked at her teary eyes. Before he knew it, he said something, but the most unfamiliar thig was that he meant it. "I love you Nellie Lovett, you are the sweetest woman I've seen in years. Sweet, beautiful, loving, I must say manipulative, and pretty sexy." He kissed her passionately and pulled her into a tight hug. She nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck and just relaxed there. She had been trying to get him to love her for years, and now, she was successful.


End file.
